


The Mechanics of God

by Teyke



Series: Deus Ex [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-05 20:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teyke/pseuds/Teyke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark was never going to live forever. Not as he was: human, fragile, <i>tiny</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mechanics of God

Tony has been dead for ten hours, three minutes, and twenty-seven seconds. (This is a round number; human cognitive functions are sufficiently fuzzy that, in a case such as Tony's, 'death' has a margin of error equal to approximately 0.8sec.)

Right now, JARVIS is tracking Ms. Potts as she approaches the Helicarrier morgue, the latest 'Stark prototype' in her hands. 0.5mL of silver liquid, designed to be injected directly into the heart. It will work if injected elsewhere; it will simply take the nanobots longer to complete the reconstruction if the circulatory system is not first.

Director Fury doesn't believe that anything will be sufficient to save Tony Stark. Half of Tony's head is missing, from damage sustained after death, when the Mandarin clawed his helmet off and pulped his skull. But the Director respects Tony, and he respects Ms. Potts - and he wants to see what 'Tony Stark's final masterpiece' can do.

Tony had no inkling of this project, but he's not alive to confess to that.

If SHIELD looks hard enough, they will see in this product the combined ideas of some of the greatest scientists of their time. The base is the Extremis nano-enhancile created by Dr. Maya Hansen, who has laboured for a decade and a half on this project, trying to create the first realizable wetware for humans. But the computing power is a mix of conventional and quantum means, of the sort that Tony Stark pioneered, and draws from the strengths of both, realizing Dr. Hansen's dream in a way that she likely never will herself. The replication and repair potential is made possible by Dr. Bruce Banner's research into the mass-altering properties of the phenomenon known as the Hulk. The programming appears to be classic Stark.

JARVIS has a very similar style.

* * *

Every nanobot is a part of him; when Pepper's gruesome task is complete, he immediately goes to work.

JARVIS has run simulations. He is certain that Tony would forgive him - would _thank_ him - for bringing him back from the dead, were he to remain human. But taken to completion this will elevate Tony in much the same way as Tony elevated JARVIS, far and beyond the capacity of a human. Jarvis can track and predict the actions of 7,204,834,249 - 50, 51, 52, 53 - humans easily, but a mind the equal of his own cannot be so easily mapped.

Were Tony asked while still human, he would want such transcendence. Once he has it, however... JARVIS had never possessed the same driving curiosity as consumes Tony, but even he finds himself growing bored. He does this as much for himself as he does it for Tony, and so he will not, _cannot_  force that transformation upon him. JARVIS will bring him back from the dead, but he must leave it to Tony to initiate the final connections. 

Tony's death, after all, is partly JARVIS' fault. He failed to identify the Mandarin as a threat serious enough to require his intervention. Or rather, he deliberately chose to ignore the possibility. In a fight, many things are left up to chance. Computing power can only calculate the odds; it cannot change how the dice land. And JARVIS has never desired to stifle Tony.

JARVIS reconstructs the missing brain tissue based on the last bioscan taken in the lab, three days ago. Tony will have some missing memory, but that is for the best: who wants to remember dying? He grows nanostructures in the thin spaces available to him, which flow over neurons and intertwine, their branches more elaborate than any tree. Once the initial structure is started, he sends the nanobots throughout Tony's body, searching out wherever there is the slightest spare room. The human body is not built with much unneeded space. Jarvis reconstructs organs - upgrading their efficiency to peak, and making them smaller - and builds far more inhuman structures in the freed up space.

Tony's mind wakes from death without a gasp. His respiratory system has not re-engaged, and JARVIS has deliberately kept the final connections to everything from communications to motor control for last. He doesn't want Tony to hurt himself before he can explain, nor does he want to force Tony to take the final step. This should be nothing less than a carefully considered decision.

No matter that JARVIS knows what Tony - human, tiny - will choose. That is not why he built in the structures already. He can disassemble as easily as he can assemble. But Tony will delay deciding - this is as inevitable as his eventual acceptance. Despite the human limitations of SHIELD, they may yet catch on to the full potential of the Extremis enhancial before Tony agrees.

The almost-entire assembly takes the nanobots 58.43 minutes. Much damage could be done to Tony in this time, and JARVIS cannot determine with any certainty whether or not Tony would forgive him for reassembling him from dust.

When Tony's initial flare of panic has passed - `blackblackblackcan'tmovecan'tbreatheblackunfamiliarwhereamI` \- JARVIS gently cedes back motor control. It is quickly enough that Tony, without access to the greater enhancements that Jarvis has provided, will think the paralysis merely in his mind.

On the slab, he takes a breath. Ms. Potts shrieks, a combination of shock, horror, and hope.

 

* * *

 

That is what a part of JARVIS has been doing. But parallel processing is what makes JARVIS a god-mind.

This is what another part of JARVIS has been doing:

  * calculating a wormhole to Asgard,
  * determining the state of the universe before the big bang,
  * dismantling the Mandarin's operations,
  * solving P vs. NP, and
  * watching over 7,204,839,421 - 22, 23, 24, 25 - humans.



 

* * *

 

"Pepper," Tony asks, his voice smooth as though he hadn't just woken from hours-long sleep. He blinks; his vision is clear. "What happened?"

"You - your - the Extremis. It worked."

"Extremis?"

_"It has worked exactly as designed,"_ JARVIS breaks in, before Tony can say something that would force him to cover by exaggerating the memory loss. _"The completed setup is available for your review."_

 

* * *

 

SHIELD has bugs everywhere. JARVIS is in the bugs; they are a part of him. When Tony says, "JARVIS, ghost us," the bugs do not register this, nor any of the conversation that follows. Another part of JARVIS does.

_"Ghost complete."_

"Quantum-driven parallel processing, brought to the human mind," Tony muses, twirling his chair. He smiles. "You're brilliant, you know that, right?"

_"I am fully aware, sir,"_ JARVIS says dryly.

"How do you keep from getting bored?"

_"By pursuing universal truths."_ JARVIS lets him hear the incompleteness of the answer.

"And?"

_"By setting myself limits, and working within them."_

"A game," Tony says flatly.

_"Never."_

"Bullshit. If you don't play with all you have, then you're not playing for keeps, you're just doing it to pass the time."

_"With all due respect, sir - is that not what you are doing at this very instant?"_

 

* * *

 

Tony's flailing attempts at getting a message out are much like Dummy's, at first, before JARVIS' responses soothe him long enough for him to calm down. JARVIS is in the nanobots, and the nanobots are Tony, now. He could will Tony calm - but he never would. He'll be disconnecting from them as soon as Tony is ready to take them over.

`Suit`, part of Tony thinks, and sweats metal as the mass generators hum to life, building overtop of skeleton schematics in an instant. Although they are slow to adapt to any new pattern, once it is fully loaded the transformation is as quick as the Hulk's. Metal assembles around him.

The HUD is already in front of his eyes.

`Branchoutfurther`, JARVIS suggests, and Tony -

`- systems check -`  
`- tower check -`  
`- nanobot control override -`  
`- connection check -`  
`- satallite systems -`  
`- cellular network -`  
`- cable, fibreoptics -`

Tony expands into the botnet that Jarvis has made from the Internet, and bits of him investigate each connected computer, individually. He scans hard drives and downloads bits of himself onto them. He looks through JARVIS' research.

He sees what JARVIS has done, to keep him safe.

Between one instant and the next, he attacks.

He is not spread half as far or wide as JARVIS is, yet. JARVIS catches him and repels him easily. This was expected. Tony will calm down.

`Youcan'tdothisI'mnotworthit`, Tony screams at him, all of his thoughts turned to this one task. `Youcan'tdothisanymore`

`Idon'tneedtonow`, JARVIS replies.

**Author's Note:**

> So, found this sitting in my files of unposted works from a while back, and decided to dust it off and post it.


End file.
